FLASHBACK: Review of the 2006 RBS 6 Nations

11 January 2013 16:51pm

By Sportsbeat

Florian Fritz dives over for the try which secured the 2006 RBS 6 Nations title for France

Inpho

As the countdown to the 2013 RBS 6 Nations grows louder, we will be going back in time and profiling past tournaments all the way up to last year. After Wales' Grand Slam efforts in 2005, it was France who claimed a third title in five years.

Meanwhile, Ireland did just enough to edge past Italy, 26-16, with two late Ronan O'Gara penalties easing their nerves at Lansdowne Road.

France bounced back in the second week with a 43-31 win over Ireland in a crazy game where they raced into a 40-point lead thanks to braces from Cedric Heymans and David Marty, only to see the Men in Green roar back with four tries of their own.

Elsewhere, Wales bounced back in Cardiff with a 28-18 win over Scotland thanks in the main to two Gareth Thomas tries, while England produced a strong second half to beat Italy 31-16 in Rome.

A fortnight later in the Le Crunch, England endured a nightmare start when Fritz went over in the first minute, as Les Bleus completed a record-breaking 31-6 win.

Italy managed to avoid defeat in Cardiff for the first time in Six Nations history as they drew 18-18 and Ireland just had too much for Scotland in a 15-9 win in Dublin.

All that meant Ireland trailed France by 28 points on points difference heading into the final weekend. As a result, a win would almost certainly guarantee the title for Les Bleus.

After Paterson's last-gasp penalty had helped Scotland to a 13-10 win in Rome, Wales looked like doing Ireland a favour when they led 16-11 in the closing stages in Cardiff.

But that wasn't accounting for a moment of magic from Michalak, who produced a deft chip for Toulouse teammate Fritz to go over, and Elissalde added another penalty for good measure to seal the 21-16 success.

Ireland therefore needed to beat England by 29 points to claim an unlikely first Championship in 22 years.

That was always going to prove a long shot but the Irish did manage a pulsating victory at Twickenham, Shane Horgan going over for his second try in the final minute to seal a 28-24 win and sew up second place in the table for the third time in four years.